Afghan Biscuits from New Zealand

Afghan Biscuit is a traditional baked biscuit from New Zealand. The most interesting thing I found about this biscuit is the fact that it is made with cornflakes. Traditionally it topped with a chocolate icing and a half walnut. Since these are not baked with any leavening agent, these cookies tend to soft and chewy.

I am not sure how I landed to check out these cookies. I had originally planned on making An Pan from Japan. My initial plan was to bake bread from different countries, so An Pan was suitable. However, once the plan got changed, my list was getting changed on daily basis. I went on to pick Aghi Gesgoudz. I was so happy when I realized I could do these Afghan Biscuits. I adapted mine from here and read about it in Wiki as well.

The fun part was, I had cornflakes with almonds ready at home and that made baking these biscuits very quick. The biscuits are rich and dense and have a crunchiness because of the cornflakes. And on top, the chocolate icing makes it even more interesting. I skipped topping it with walnuts as my boys won’t eat it. I was surprised that they enjoyed it, in spite of the cornflakes in it. Chinnu saw me adding it and said he doesn’t want the almonds added. I couldn’t parse it fully and said he has to eat it along with it. He was hesitant and finally gave it. He was quite taken in with the taste and texture in the end.

I was searching for the origin of the recipe to be recorded here. However, I realized that the origin and the derivation of the name are unknown, but the recipe has appeared in many editions of the influential New Zealand Edmonds Cookery Book. There are lots of theories as to how these biscuits got their name, though none seem to relate directly to Afghanistan. Regardless, these chocolate and cornflake cookies topped with walnuts are a true New Zealand classic.

This yields about 20 medium size biscuits and stays good for a couple of days.

Preheat oven to 185°C. In a bowl, take the butter, using an electric mixer, beat well. Then add sugar and a pinch of salt. Beat until pale and fluffy.
Add flour, cocoa powder and cornflakes, and stir to combine.
Roll tablespoonfuls of mixture into balls, flatten slightly and place on greased and lined baking trays, 2 cm apart. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until just firm.
Set aside to cool.

For the Icing

To make the icing, whisk icing sugar and cocoa powder together with 2 tbsp water until combined to a thick paste consistency. Add more water, 1 tsp at a time, if necessary.
Immediately spread over cooled biscuits and top each with a little of the chopped walnuts, to decorate.

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Afghan Biscuit from New Zealand

Afghan Biscuit is a traditional baked biscuit from New Zealand. These are soft chewy chocolate biscuits, topped with chocolate icing and a walnut.

I am so glad that you started off the marathon with a chocolate recipe. How funny that I had initially planned on making An Pan as well from Japan, but have made something else (a cookie too). The recipe looks great and I can’t wait to see what else you have in this series!

Same pinch Valli — I had Anpan too on my list. I even made the sweet red bean paste, but somehow ended up making something else.
I made these Afghan biscuits few months ago and loved how crunchy they turned out. You are tempting me to try them again (I’ll probably make them them after the mega marathon). Looking forward to your other creations this month.

Happy start to the Mega Bm Valli,looking forward for more fun.. and coming to the afgan biscuits ,like cornflakes being added in the biscuits .totally loved this idea.. I am a biscuits freak so i am gonna definitely try this cookies in the future!!

Such a coincidence that so many of us (me included) had Anpan on our list but dropped it. These cookies look awesome…adding cornflakes is a lovely idea.
I propose we change tour name from Srivalli to ChocoValli ????

Afghan cookies title made me expect the karachi kind of biscuits which i had seen in some tele show earlier, but when i saw the picture with chocolate, i thought you probably twisted it with chocolate knowing your love for chocolate. But this is like complete googly….the biscuits look so delicious and rich – infact i think the recipe is also pretty simple and easy…lovely way to kickstart BM

Perfect start for the mega marathon and no wonder you started with a chocolate one as it’s your favourite. The name made me think of something that belongs to Afghan cuisine. It looks really amazing and must have tasted yummy.